Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Full Version:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the trav’ller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often thro' my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

'Tis your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the trav’ller in the dark,
Tho' I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Origins

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is the most popular lullaby in English-speaking countries. It began as a poem called The Star by Jane Taylor, first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection written with her sister Ann. The original poem has five stanzas, though only the first is usually sung today.

The words were not originally a song. The familiar melody, a French folk tune called “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman”(“Shall I tell you, Mama”), had already been in circulation since 1761. It was only in 1838, in a songbook called The Singing Master, that the poem and the melody were first published together — creating the lullaby we now know worldwide.

A popular but less reliable story claims the name came from a mother humming the tune to her infant, who babbled the word “twinkling.” Charming though it is, history firmly credits Jane Taylor with the lyrics.

Alternate Versions

Over the years, different versions of the rhyme appeared in print. One well-known variation was collected in 1896 by Mildred J. Hill, co-composer of Happy Birthday. Her version begins “How we wonder what you are” instead of “How I wonder,” and continues with verses about the sun setting and rising:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How we wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the glorious sun has set,
And the grass with dew is wet,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

When the golden sun doth rise,
Fills with shining light the skies,
Then you fade away from sight,
Shine no more ’till comes the night.

The rhyme’s fame spread far beyond bedtime. It was so well-known in Victorian England that Lewis Carroll parodied it in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). At the Mad Hatter’s tea party, the Dormouse recites:

“Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you’re at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.”

Composed by Mozart?

It is widely believed that the tune for this rhyme was one of Mozart's earliest compositions. However, this is not true. While he composed variations on the tune, the melody already existed. Who actually wrote it? No one really knows. Link to the sheet music below.

Sheet music